love that what was outskirts is now really central 
Was the ideal location for my son. Close proximity to the bus station (literally across the street) and the train station. Very close to Mathematical Institute. Short walk to City center, the Ashmolean and all the shops/pubs up Walton Street in Jericho. Plus a nice college bar. Being viewed as āoff the runā it isnāt overwhelmed with tourists the way that say Christ Church/Slytherin is. Combine that with the gardens & lake with swans and I think he picked a winner.
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Thank you for all of these insights - theyāll be invaluable when the time comes!
Currently we are struggling with these AP tests. Even though itās technically possible to register as an external student, it doesnāt seem to actually be possible. Iāve only gotten nos so far, from something like 17 schools. (Understandable, too - in times of Covid they donāt want external kids on campus).
On the off chance: anybody know how to do this?
Have you asked his current school if they will proctor the AP test for him, saying itās needed for Oxford? That would be something Iād try first. S got the college counselor at his high school to proctor his Oxford TSA test, because it helps to justify her job if she can highlight kids getting into prestigious colleges.
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Where are you located?
Sadly, that wonāt work. I actually have a former AP proctor who would be willing to proctor all tests, but college board wonāt accept that. Iāve called them 3-4 times now - apparently the only way to do it is to find a school that is approved for the three subjects he wants to take and get them to accept him as an independent student, exam only. However, it is at the schoolās discretion to take him - and currently none will. Iāve called up to 100 miles away, no can do.
There is a school not too far away that has all the courses he wants. They said no, but Iām trying to see if I can find anybody I know who might know someone there that can convince them to change their mindā¦ 
More of a long shot, Iām afraid.
CA. But, have car, will travel. 
We are setting up a meeting with his college counselor next week, though, to see if there is anything she can do.
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Last year students could take AP exams remotely because of covid. Is that still true?
Sadly, no. At least not according to the very unkind college board person I talked to. I might call them yet again, as I do get contradicting infos.
So! 33 schools and a few meetings with his hs counselor later, we might have found a school that will let him take the AP exams. I am waiting on their e-mail confirmation. 7.5 hrs and one state away. 
His counselor mentioned āat least this will make a good story for his US applicationsā.
I wonder: would āwell, I really wanted to apply to Oxford, so I self studied and took the APs on my own, but didnāt get in, so Iām applying to youā actually make a good essay? 
The plan is to focus on getting those 5s and then move on to preparing for the MAT with a tutor. Question to UK people: any advice on finding such a tutor? We are thinking it should be someone familiar with the MAT, so it would make sense to look in the UKā¦
When all of this is over I want 
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I would also think about the interview and the need for problem solving under pressure (what they want there is visualization āsketch a curveā not number crunching). The MAT should flow from that.
I know itās similar material to Calc BC but taking the AOPS Calculus course over the summer would very likely be the best way to prep for many of the types of questions you will see in both the MAT and the interview. Consider reading the AOPS Geometry and Algebra text books before that course too. If you are ambitious then try Olympiad Geometry after Calculus.
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On that, I wonder whether Oxford will return to in-person interviews this December. Iāve heard that tutors want that but the administrators prefer online interviews, as they are easier to organize.
@AnnaW: There are a number of Oxford math interviews on YouTube. Such as this.
Thereās nothing quite like three days spent in a college for convincing you that you really want to attend. Maybe they think everyone who gets an offer will accept it, but that certainly isnāt true for international applicants, and I suspect it would definitely be a shortsighted cost cutting measure to abandon in person interviews.
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In addition to past MAT papers, my son prepped with review of other challenging math exams like the AIME, the Singapore National math exams and the ARML/PUMAC/HMMT competitions. He didnāt have a tutor per se, but he could always check in with his HS math teacher or the Yale professor who ran his math circle to review concepts he was having issues grasping.
Yes, that was the idea, someone who can help with both. Looking at the MAT (and mock interviews), it seems to me that one of the big differences in the approach to math is that in the US system the tests basically check if you know the covered material, whereas the english system rewards what the Germans call āTransferleistungā (transfer ability?) - so a US test will give you a hard question that the student might need to do a lot of precise arithmetic on, but the European test will give you a much more open questions where you also have to figure out the path to the answer?
I donāt know if im making sense, not being a math person. (I am currently feeling my deficits acutely, as I have been basically relegated to flash card holder - for lack of understanding the notation I canāt even say if the answer he is giving to his flash card question is correct or not. Humbling.)
We looked into AOPS courses, but the session based ones start at a bad time. I think a 1 on 1 tutor would be the best solution, for one timing wise with summer camp etc. but mostly as the kid is so used to doing everything by himself that someone who can really interact with him and give feedback on what he is doing would, in my eyes, be beneficial for anything he does from here on out?
I think your son had a huge advantage to mine in that he had experience with competition math, which might be more similar to what I see as āEuropeanā math. Also, he had access to math people who could help.
To be honest - I donāt know if my son can overcome not having that exposure. But - he wants to give it a shot. 
Thank you very much!
From everything youāve said, your son finds the idea of all this studying and preparation as fun, a good time. So even if things donāt align for Oxbridge, your child will have enjoyed himself, experienced something new, and learned a great deal that will help him in his future, no matter where he ends up. Although the idea of all this math being fun might be incomprehensible to you (and me), I think itās all going to turn out well.
Yes, I think thatās right. My D22 just went through this (but not for math) and, because it was conducted online, I overheard bits of one of the two interviews. Itās really a conversation - they want to see how you think so it is important to think out loud, theyāll steer the interview in such a way that youāll get stuck at some point and they want to see how you navigate through that (including by asking for their help), they want to see excitement and engagement, intuition and insight. From what Iāve seen, the applicants generally find it to be enjoyable.
Your son has plenty of time to prepare - just need to get used to a different form of discussion/interview.
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